Monday, June 24, 2013

The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard ~ Tour Stop & Giveaway

Allison O'Malley just graduated from college. Her life's plan is to get a job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She doesn't have room for friends or even Ethan, who clearly wants more.

When Allison's long-lost father shows up, he claims he can bring her mother back from the dark place her mind has sent her. He reveals legends of a race of people long forgotten, the Tuatha de Danaan, along with the truth about why he abandoned her mother.

My Thoughts:

3 stars - Not quite what I was expecting but I enjoyed it.

I was drawn to the premise of this book. The idea of Allison trying very hard to take care of her mom and still resist her feeling for Ethan appealed to me. It didn't quite turn into the story I was expecting but I enjoyed it none the less.

Allison is a bookie kinda girl. I like that. She doesn't seem to make strong connections with her friends though she does have feelings for Ethan. I was really wishing we could have seen more of the relationship between these two. Clearly, Ethan has feeling for Allison and I was really confused as to why that wasn't happening. Allison claims it's because she needs to take care of her mom but even Ethan isn't buying that one. So I wondered.

I loved Allison's determination to help her mother. I could understand her guilt over her mother's condition even though it's clearly not her fault. Her determination to fix things was also nice. She really has no idea what she's getting herself into and with that it reminded me of The Iron Fey series. She, and thus the reader, learns as she goes into a world she never knew existed. That's always fun in a fantasy book.

I liked Ethan. Really wish we had more time with him. He's so cute in his feelings for Allison and I can see that male ego trying very hard to hold out for her. A guy can only take so much rejection though and Ethan gets a lot. I was glad his character was pulled into the paranormal aspect of the story but sorry when that ended. I hope he figures things out in the next book and is an equal player with Allison. I prefer a couple that way.

The pace is fast. Maybe too fast. A couple of time, I was like...wait I want more there. But I loved the writing style. Strong descriptions and lots of little details. Dreams help fill in the story as Allison tries to figure out what's going on with everything. I love that technique. I really liked the seer aspect of it too. That's always interesting especially when a choice changes things.

I read this in an few hours and enjoyed it. I haven't read as much paranormal as I normally do and it was nice to read one of those again.

If you like the fairy world with NA characters then this one is a good one to pick up.

About this author:

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.